I saw LeClair get his back injured by ass**** Bergevin in Pittsburgh on a 5 game personal road trip ( Reading-Pittsburgh-Wheeling-Johnstown- Hershey) I remember him shooting very off target around that time, maybe after the injury. He used a really strange curve/blade pattern... He was a beast...

LeClair recorded 25 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 49 games

Bill - great article, as always. Any chance the 37 and 49 should be switched?

Can't wait to see what Arizona does.

They have picks at 3, 27, 32, 34, 36, 43 and 45.
- Feanor

They wont have the revenue to pay them all lol

The Flyers top picks in franchise history were all "off the board" selections:

- Clarke w/ his Type 1 Diabetes, nobody thought he could even have a career,
- Foppa was considered a huge reach at #6 at the time,
- G was less of a reach, but also not ranked highly pre-draft.

And the best guy that Fletcher/Flahr ever picked was a an extremely undersized 5th-round pick out of small town in Russia that they knew they would struggle to get signed.

Moral: being "NHL-ready", toolsy and topping the rankings are cool on draft day, but they often don't have as much to do with who's actually gonna to be the best player years down the road.
- Tomahawk

In the Flyers case maybe but not overall in the league.

It’s believed that Philadelphia is in the mix, with the No. 5 pick in the draft the centerpiece of any potential package. The Flyers — who are always in win-now mode — also have Florida’s 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protected; it would become a 2025 first-rounder if it falls in the top 10 in 2024) from the Claude Giroux trade. Would those two picks, plus a good-but-not-great prospect be enough? Davidson is hoping that as draft day approaches, the pressure will ratchet up and he can get more for DeBrincat, a bona fide star who is among the league’s best goal scorers and has become a very good two-way player who even kills penalties. But if no one else steps up to the plate with a better offer, the Flyers are a very real possibility.

I do think Philly and Chicago are engaged on Alex DeBrincat. Definitely. What I'd heard was that things being talked about there included the 5th overall pick, the one the Flyers have in Thursday's draft.

Elliotte Friedman
- SuperSchennBros

i don't get how we're in a win-now mode we don't have the people to do it

i don't get how we're in a win-now mode we don't have the people to do it
- 2Real

Pretty comical, lot of hockey people laughing at the Flyers

They wont have the revenue to pay them all lol
- MBFlyerfan

They will probably package some of them to get another 1st rounder.

Bill, in what ballpark do you see Ivan Miroshnichenko going? Seems to have top 10 talent and is supposedly on his way to recovery from his illness - if you can believe anything out of Russia these days.
- Quetzalcoatl

He's a total wildcard. The health prognosis is promising but a) some NHL teams are going to be very leery of Russian players (even ones who played in North America last season) and the combo of what's going on with Fedotov apparently being made an example of by the KHL and Putin's regime -- although the player's lawyer said he did, in fact, register with the military years ago in another city -- plus Putin's open call for Russian nationals to live and work in Russia rather than overseas makes it complicated. B) Add in whatever effect the health issues were going to have on his Draft position.

I suspect he'll still be drafted but much later than he'd have otherwise gone.

Pretty comical, lot of hockey people laughing at the Flyers
- ClaudeFather

The same hockey people who were coveting the Flyers' farm system ca. 2018 to 2020 when the Flyers were No. 2, No. 1 and No. 7 in THN Future Watch survey of NHL scouts?

Bill - great article, as always. Any chance the 37 and 49 should be switched?
- copelal

Typo. Will fix.

Ahhhh!! The good ol' Legion of Doom days.

I don't see anything in the foreseeable future for the Flyers resembling the fun of those teams.

Rick Tocchet was a 6th round pick, one of the best Flyers players ever. 400+ career goals and tough as nails. Even Brian Propp at 14th overall was a great pick.
- Dave21Brown

Propp was a widely projected top 5 pick but somehow slipped to 14th due to concerns that he was one-dimensional (which turned out to be wrong).

The same hockey people who were coveting the Flyers' farm system ca. 2018 to 2020 when the Flyers were No. 2, No. 1 and No. 7 in THN Future Watch survey of NHL scouts?
- bmeltzer

Like who?

Ranked so high yet noting to really show for it. So what happened were the people that ranked them just s far off base? Flyers just piss poor in terms of development?

Even by accident they got noting so far from those in those 3 rankings.

Can't wait to see what Arizona does.

They have picks at 3, 27, 32, 34, 36, 43 and 45.
- Feanor

way back in 1990 the Flyers had 7 of the first 52 picks. Flyers did ok. 4 out of 3.

I saw LeClair get his back injured by ass**** Bergevin in Pittsburgh on a 5 game personal road trip ( Reading-Pittsburgh-Wheeling-Johnstown- Hershey) I remember him shooting very off target around that time, maybe after the injury. He used a really strange curve/blade pattern... He was a beast...
- RajaAmpat

Back when the Flyers Archives was onsite at the Wells Fargo Center, they had various equipment in the collection including LeClair's stick. It was a) a serious piece of lumber and b) I have no idea how he was able to stickhandle on that blade.

Back when the Flyers Archives was onsite at the Wells Fargo Center, they had various equipment in the collection including LeClair's stick. It was a) a serious piece of lumber and b) I have no idea how he was able to stickhandle on that blade.
- bmeltzer

LeClair's stick was the hockey stick equivalent of an MC Escher drawing. Not sure how it works, but it does.

Speaking of Leclair, Craig Ramsay (Team Slovakia coach) says that Slafkovsky reminds him a lot of Johnny Vermont, whom he coached. Not a natural goal-scorer, but just goes to the right areas and competes like hell, and that drive leads to a lot of goals.

The same hockey people who were coveting the Flyers' farm system ca. 2018 to 2020 when the Flyers were No. 2, No. 1 and No. 7 in THN Future Watch survey of NHL scouts?
- bmeltzer

And then reality set in and the farm system was more of a chicken coop in your neighbors backyard.

Like who?

Ranked so high yet noting to really show for it. So what happened were the people that ranked them just s far off base? Flyers just piss poor in terms of development?

Even by accident they got noting so far from those in those 3 rankings.
- hello it's me 2050

Potentially Carter Hart propping up 2018? Other than that I really don’t see it. It’s a bunch of spare parts.

The same hockey people who were coveting the Flyers' farm system ca. 2018 to 2020 when the Flyers were No. 2, No. 1 and No. 7 in THN Future Watch survey of NHL scouts?
- bmeltzer

Looking back it's laughable this group was ranked #2.

https://www.sportingnews....tn8fb6mqnial16bxvtds5dacu

PROSPECT POSITION 2018-19 TEAM (Proj.) ACQUIRED
1. Joel Farabee LW Boston U. (NCAA) 1st/2018
2. Carter Hart G Lehigh Valley (AHL) 2nd/2016
3. Philippe Myers RHD Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
4. Morgan Frost C Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 1st/2017
5. Oskar Lindblom LW Philadelphia (NHL) 5th/2014
6. German Rubstov C Lehigh Valley (AHL) 1st/2016
7. Jay O'Brien C Providence (NCAA) 1st/2018
8. Mike Vecchione C/W Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
9. Isaac Ratcliffe LW Guelph (AHL) 2nd/2017
10. Wade Allison RW W. Michigan (NCAA) 2nd/2016

There's only 4 NHL regulars in there, with Myers going back to the AHL this season.

Like who?

Ranked so high yet noting to really show for it. So what happened were the people that ranked them just s far off base? Flyers just piss poor in terms of development?

Even by accident they got noting so far from those in those 3 rankings.
- hello it's me 2050

Yes, it's been a development issue. I wrote at length about it in Grant McCagg's Recrutes Draft Preview.

Looking back it's laughable this group was ranked #2.

https://www.sportingnews....tn8fb6mqnial16bxvtds5dacu

PROSPECT POSITION 2018-19 TEAM (Proj.) ACQUIRED
1. Joel Farabee LW Boston U. (NCAA) 1st/2018
2. Carter Hart G Lehigh Valley (AHL) 2nd/2016
3. Philippe Myers RHD Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
4. Morgan Frost C Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 1st/2017
5. Oskar Lindblom LW Philadelphia (NHL) 5th/2014
6. German Rubstov C Lehigh Valley (AHL) 1st/2016
7. Jay O'Brien C Providence (NCAA) 1st/2018
8. Mike Vecchione C/W Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
9. Isaac Ratcliffe LW Guelph (AHL) 2nd/2017
10. Wade Allison RW W. Michigan (NCAA) 2nd/2016

There's only 4 NHL regulars in there, with Myers going back to the AHL this season.
- Feanor

Joke. There’s one good NHL player in that group. Carter Hart is still a bit of a question mark. The rest is nothing.

Yes, it's been a development issue. I wrote at length about it in Grant McCagg's Recrutes Draft Preview.
- bmeltzer

Then why isn't it being addressed? At least on the surface it doesn't seem to be.

Though when you look at the Bunnyman types they really have no upside. Ceiling is 4th line. So how much of a failure is it guys of that ilk do not pan out?

Joke. There’s one good NHL player in that group. Carter Hart is still a bit of a question mark. The rest is nothing.
- ClaudeFather

Oskar is a solid NHL player. Cant hate on that pick and being an NHL player.

Looking back it's laughable this group was ranked #2.

https://www.sportingnews....tn8fb6mqnial16bxvtds5dacu

PROSPECT POSITION 2018-19 TEAM (Proj.) ACQUIRED
1. Joel Farabee LW Boston U. (NCAA) 1st/2018
2. Carter Hart G Lehigh Valley (AHL) 2nd/2016
3. Philippe Myers RHD Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
4. Morgan Frost C Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 1st/2017
5. Oskar Lindblom LW Philadelphia (NHL) 5th/2014
6. German Rubstov C Lehigh Valley (AHL) 1st/2016
7. Jay O'Brien C Providence (NCAA) 1st/2018
8. Mike Vecchione C/W Lehigh Valley (AHL) UDFA
9. Isaac Ratcliffe LW Guelph (AHL) 2nd/2017
10. Wade Allison RW W. Michigan (NCAA) 2nd/2016

There's only 4 NHL regulars in there, with Myers going back to the AHL this season.
- Feanor

Look at the Sabres at #1, there's 4 nhl regulars in there if you consider Mittelstadt a regular. I'm sure if you go through the rest of the rankings there are similar numbers.